


Game of Stars

by WhyAreAllThePenNamesTaken



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-12-07 10:35:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20974493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhyAreAllThePenNamesTaken/pseuds/WhyAreAllThePenNamesTaken
Summary: Many moons ago, someone put up a post on Tumblr prompting a scifi ASOIAF universe, and I said "ok".I never wrote the story, which would presumably be a billion words long, but I did map out the worlds and their structure, so here it is.





	Game of Stars

** Game of Stars **

In the far future, human society has spread to the stars. However, ascension did not bring enlightenment. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnL3slAfbuM>

**The Realm**

The main power in Known Space is the Realm, ruled over by the King, currently His Majesty Rhaegar Targaryen. The capital of the Realm is the city of Landing in the Crown system.

The Targaryens, led by Aegon I, united the seven clusters almost nine hundred years ago in Aegon’s conquest.

The Targaryens were natives of Valyria and as a result were subject to genetic experimentation that allows them to use Valyrian artefacts, such as their powerful and semi-sentient Dragon-class Dreadnoughts – which were all destroyed in the internecine wars that devastated the dynasty – and unobtainium based devices that allow them to manipulate gravity.

** _Technology_ **

Interstellar travel occurs either by FTL drive (though this occurs at a max pace of 52c) or star bridges (where travel is instantaneous). Star bridges are owned and operated by Citadel and rented by system governments. Ships that are more than 1.5 mega-tonnes in size cannot transit a star bridge, and so dreadnought class ships must travel via FTL.

The nobility (both court and territorial) and the wealthy enjoy a lifespan of about 180 years and low rates of cancer, dementia, and other deteriorative diseases, through nanotech. Commoners in some systems have an average lifespan as low as 50 years.

** _Government_ **

The Realm’s legislature is the Great Council, composed of all Lords Paramount and Lords Principal (or their delegates); the heirs apparent of Lords Paramount also sit as cadets. It is presided over by the King or, more commonly, the Hand.

His Majesty’s Government is overseen by the Small Council, which is composed of the Hand, Masters of Ships, Laws, Coin, and Whisperers (head of the Security Service), the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and the head of Citadel Communications and Transportation, as well as the Lords Paramount or their delegates.

Until recently, both councils were dominated by a coalition led by Jon Arryn, which ensured peace and order, if not good government for almost two decades. However, Jon Arryn’s death, apparently from a fever, has led to substantial political uncertainty, with the Starks, Baratheons, Lannisters and Targaryens fighting for dominance.

Royal Justices, led by the King’s Justice, hear appeals from system courts, while the Court of Admiralty hears interstellar trade and travel cases and the Court of Exchequer hears taxation cases. Appeals from all courts are heard by the Council Learned in the Law. All of the King’s Justices serve until death, retirement, or removal by a two-thirds majority of the Great Council and are appointed on the advice of local elites ([Senatorial courtesy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senatorial_courtesy)).

The Royal Court is home to the court nobility (including Houses Rosby, Blout, and Stokeworth) who populate the middle ranks of the bureaucracy and wield considerable non-official influence with the King. The Court is also influenced by the most powerful Cartels and the territorial nobles ([State capture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_capture); [Regulatory capture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture)).

The Royal Family is composed of the King, his Queen Elia née Martell, the Crown Prince Aegon, the Princess Rhaenys, the King’s legitimised bastard son Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen, the King’s younger brother Prince Viserys, and the King’s sister Princess Daenerys. There were several cadet branches, but they have died out in the internecine conflicts that have weakened the dynasty. It is expected that Viserys and Jaehaerys will be granted permission to establish cadet branches of the Royal House.

The Realm is divided into Clusters ruled by a Lord Paramount (His/Her Grace), who is head of a Great House and supervises system governments, preserves the security of their territories, enforces the law and prevents corruption. The clusters are in turn divided into systems, each ruled by a Lord Principal (The Lord). Systems can be divided in turn and the Lords of these areas, if any, are known as Lords Ordinary, though the title varies from system to system and even region to region.

Every system pays 10% of its Gross System Product to the Cluster government, which in turn pays one-third of its revenue to the Throne. Additionally, the Throne receives half of all customs dues (the other half is split between Cluster and System governments). Lords Paramount or Lords Principal can make laws that apply in their areas, provided they are not contrary to laws made by higher authority. By tradition, the King can only legislate in certain areas, such as interstellar law, while others are reserved to the territorial nobles.

King Jaehaerys I promulgated the Statute of Rights, which guarantees numerous civil and political rights. However, the Statute gives way before other royal laws due to s 4-6:

  * 4: Other enactments not invalid due to inconsistency
  * 5: Rights subject to justifiable limitations
  * 6: Interpretation consistent with this Statute to be preferred

All systems have some degree of popular representation (from the rubber stamp of Bolton to the constitutional monarchy of Honeywine), usually in the form of a two-house system legislature, though the Lord can refuse assent (if he disagrees with them) or reserve them to the King’s pleasure (if he believes they exceed the legislature’s competence). The King can disallow laws, which is customarily done on the advice of the Council Learned, and usually only if they interfere with the King’s traditional powers. There is no provision to override the Lord’s veto or the King’s disallowance.

The **Clusters** are:

  * **North**, ruled by House Stark of Winterfell. The current Lord Paramount is Eddard Stark. The Starks follow the Old Gods. The Stark Cartel is notable in that all its manufacturing is carried out domestically rather than being outsourced to Qarth, which has had the effect of greatly increasing the Stark Cartel's popular support at the moderate expense of its profit margin. Organic circuitry - which is used as the basis for all augmentations and on-board AI - was created by a Stark Cartel subsidia It is believed that the North cluster is home to a race called the Children and huge segments of each planet have remained in their natural state to provide a home for them. The cluster is also home to a species of tree known as Weirwoods, which appear to transfer information through electrical impulses. Some within the intelligence community believe that a Dragon-class dreadnought has also fallen into House Stark's control.
  * **Vale**, ruled by House Arryn of Eyrie. The current Lord Paramount is Robin Arryn, who is only nine years old. The Vale has a high degree of inequality, and is a breeding ground for the Leveller insurgency. As a result, it is heavily fortified and its security forces are particularly active, which together with political weakness due to the minority of its current Lord Paramount, feeding a cycle of rebellion, oppression, and increasing escalation on both sides.
  * **Trident**, ruled by House Tully of Riverrun. The current Lord Paramount is Hoster Tully, though he is very ill. His heir is Lord Edmure Tully. Unlike most clusters, Trident is decentralised, with several junctions (rather than the more common single junction) and connections to other clusters. As a result, the Tully’s authority is weaker than in other clusters and the cluster is a common battleground.
  * **West**, ruled by House Lannister of Casterly. The current Lord Paramount is Tywin Lannister, infamous throughout known space for the orbital bombardment of every major population centre on Castamere, a war crime, ostensibly to put down a rebellion by House Reyne against the King – a song was written to memorialise the scope of Tywin's wrath but it is mainly played by those attempting to gain Lannister favour. While Tywin was pardoned and promoted to Hand of the King by Aerys V, the present King’s late father, he later resigned his post and has been unwelcome at Court during Rhaegar's reign. Nonetheless, the Lannister Cartel is the single most powerful in the Realm and the Lion Fleet is second only to the Royal Navy.
  * **Storm**, ruled by House Baratheon of Storm’s End, the name of which comes from the rough journey the original colonists had to get there. The current Lord Paramount is Robert Baratheon. He has three legitimate children and sixteen illegitimate children, is married to Cersei Lannister and has two brothers, Stannis and Renly.
  * **Reach**, ruled by House Tyrell of Highgarden. Their current Lord Paramount is Mace Tyrell, though his mother, Olenna née Redwyne, is widely thought to be the main power in the Reach cluster’s government. While the Reach has a high gross domestic product, the Florent, Hightower, Redwyne and Tarly Cartels rival the Tyrell Cartel for dominance and the Tyrell’s influence does not spread far beyond their homeland.
  * **Dorne**, ruled by House Martell of Sunspear. Their current Lord Paramount is Doran Martell. Unlike the other clusters, Dorne practices equal preference primogeniture, so his heir is Arianne Martell. Furthermore, marriage contracts there do not include a requirement that affairs be kept quiet or forbid partners having illegitimate children and the Faith of the Seven is much less prominent. This is the result of a large number of the settlers being refugees from Rhoyne, which was conquered by Valyria.

Other major factions include:

  * **Guilds, cartels, and trans-stellars**: Guilds are industry groups of independent companies. Cartels are multi-industry conglomerates with common ownership structures ([Zaibatsu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaibatsu), [Keiretsu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keiretsu), [Corporate Group](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_group), [Concern](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concern_%28business%29), [Conglomerate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conglomerate_%28company%29), [Chaebol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaebol)). Trans-stellars are single industry groupings that operate across multiple systems. All invest heavily in political relations activities but are restricted from employing military forces or directly exercising government powers. Unions also exist, engage in political activities and often operate pension funds and insurance schemes for the benefit of their members.
  * **Citadel Communications and Transportation**: The Citadel is a group of companies that operates the Real-time Audio-Visual Network (RAVN), and is the sole producer of wormhole bridges. 
    * It used its monopoly on real-time interstellar communications to finance its expansion into the telecommunications and data industries. It makes significant use of the personal data it obtains including as a means of influencing users.
    * Unlike most interstellar corporate groups, it was created outside the influence of any Great House. The internal workings of the RAVN buoys and wormhole bridges are protected by sophisticated anti-tampering measures and their production facilities are a tightly guarded secret.
    * The group has a high degree of soft power and is rumoured to intervene in affairs including by assassination if the Conclave feels it must.
    * Each system has a Maester, who oversees Citadel operations within his area and is usually a key advisor to the system’s Lord and government.
    * Its headquarters was originally on Honeywine (the seat of House Hightower) but it is now a true trans-stellar, with multiple companies overseeing the business’s operations based on multiple worlds. About a third of the Maesters, known as Archmaesters, sit on multiple boards and a few are members of the boards of all the companies. This group of Archmaesters, called the Conclave, meets regularly by secure RAVN link.
    * As the companies are registered in a number of different systems and there is no central holding company, no one regulator has complete oversight of the group. Citadel’s stock is held by a complex network of institutions, trusts, and private individuals, most of them nominees for Citadel itself.
    * In keeping with its mysterious ways, it has two heads, the Grandmaester, who oversees political activities on Crown, and the Seneschal, a rotating position which chairs the Conclave.
    * Citadel issues its own purely digital currency, the Citadel Credit. It is the principal medium for interstellar payments and the principal reserve currency.
  * **The Levellers** are an extreme-radical group who are dedicated to the overthrow of the Realm’s socio-economic order in favour of a more egalitarian order. They attempt to achieve this goal by a campaign of protests, targeted assassination, and bombings. Their political arm is the Renewal Movement.
  * **The Whisperers** are responsible for the protection of the Realm and HM person against covert threats. The organisation is headed by the Master of Whisperers. It has a group of operatives (Special Tactics and Reconnaissance) that eliminates threats pre-emptively.
  * **Spider Intelligence Corp** provides a great deal of intelligence support to the Whisperers. Spider is rumoured to have developed an AI, code named “Little Bird” which predicts threats to the Realm, through the analysis of data gathered from every networked device connected to RAVN. However, not everything is online and committed individuals can avoid Little Bird’s observation. Spider’s employees get an insurance policy when they join the corporation, if they are caught, they get nothing but if they die in an accident, their next of kin gets a multi-million Dragon The CEO is Illyrio Mopatis while the COO is known only as Varys.
  * **The Royal Guard** is responsible for the protection of the King and the Royal Family. It is composed of HM Bodyguard (divided into the 49-member King’s Guard and the 10,000-member Life Guard (black and red armour, gold spear with three skulls hanging underneath as emblem)) and the Capital Guard (security at important facilities, approximately an army in every region; known as the Goldcloaks for the ceremonial uniform). 
    * The Lord Commander is head of the Royal Guard and also has oversight of: 
      * Crown Bureau of Investigation (planet-wide criminal investigation agency; divided into Regional Crimes Squads, the Intelligence Branch, and Special Branch)
      * Border Protection Agency (operating border posts and monitoring the orbital surveillance net)
      * Immigration and Customs Enforcement (border security investigations)
      * Crown Space Agency (responsible for in-system space traffic)
      * Transportation Security Agency (intra-atmospheric traffic)
    * The Lord Commander is also the superior of the Master of the Horse, who is the Chief of Staff of the Royal Army.
    * Often a Commander will oversee small support units augmented to his formation when it operates independently
    * Army garrisons are stationed on every world to provide aid to civil powers, support and protect royal agents, and provide a last resort to enforce royal authority. In practice they, like every other royal institution, are almost completely dominated by the nobility

Formation

| 

Number

| 

Commander  
  
---|---|---  
  
Theatre

| 

200,000+

| 

Commander General  
  
Army

| 

50,000

| 

Captain General  
  
Division

| 

10,000

| 

Lieutenant General  
  
Battle line

| 

1,000

| 

Commander  
  
Company

| 

100

| 

Captain  
  
Section/Squadron/Battery

| 

50

| 

Lieutenant  
  
Lance

| 

10

| 

Corporal  
  
Team

| 

5

| 

Lance Corporal  
  
Rank

| 

Insignia  
  
---|---  
  
Commander General

| 

Dragon  
  
Major General

| 

Four skulls  
  
Captain General

| 

Three skulls  
  
Lieutenant General

| 

Two skulls  
  
Sergeant General

| 

One skull  
  
Commander

| 

Four claws  
  
Major

| 

Three claws  
  
Captain

| 

Two claws  
  
First Lieutenant

| 

One claw  
  
Lieutenant

| 

Two pips  
  
Ensign

| 

Pip  
  
|   
  
Sergeant Major

| 

Three chevrons  
  
Master Sergeant

| 

Two chevrons  
  
Sergeant

| 

One chevron  
  
Corporal

| 

Four stripes  
  
Lance Corporal

| 

Three stripes  
  
Private First Class

| 

Two stripes  
  
Private

| 

One stripe  
  
Recruit

|   
  
  * **The Royal Navy**’s mission is the protection of the Realm. It is divided into the Naval Staff and the Fleet Commands. Unlike most house navies there is no policy of rotating officers from back to front line duties from staff positions, or between Fleet Commands. Naval Staff officers are almost exclusively chosen on the basis of patronage. 
    * There is also a division between Commissioned Officers, who are responsible for overall command, and Warrant Officers (Gunners, Navigators, Engineers, Surgeons, Technicians), who are often more experienced and deal with actually running and fighting the ship. While this may seem like a good thing, commissioned officers tend to come from the noble and knightly classes who gained their rank through family ties, while warrant officers generally rose through the ranks, so commissioned officers seldom follow the advice of their more experienced colleagues.

Class

| 

Million m3

| 

Crew  
  
---|---|---  
  
Escort

| 

<.05

| 

50  
  
Light Cruiser

| 

.1 to .5

| 

200  
  
Heavy Cruiser

| 

.5 to 1

| 

500  
  
Battle Cruiser

| 

1 to 1.5

| 

1,000  
  
Dreadnought/Carrier

| 

1.5 to 2.5

| 

2,000  
  
Superdreadnought/Supercarrier

| 

2.5-5

| 

4,000  
  
  * 5 tonnes per cubic metre
  * The Statute of Forces forbids anyone but the Royal and House Navies from possessing dreadnoughts and requires a tonnage ratio of 5:3:1 between the fleets of the RN, the Great Houses and Lesser Houses. While non-government military forces are illegal, a loophole allows contracting. Unlike the RN, the House ships are all in service.
  * The RN’s headquarters is at [The Wall](https://www.deviantart.com/michaelkutsche/art/The-Wall-78555922), a kilometre long, fifty-storey building, located on Crown. It has bases throughout known space. Members of the Royal Navy wear black uniforms with only piping for rank, the royal emblem (left) and ship/battalion insignia (right). To show their loyalty, many officers either carry or wear a small ring embossed with a house sigil.
  * The marines mainly use army formation structure but naval rank structure (with general swapped in for admiral)

Fleet

| 

Fleet Admiral

| 

All squadrons in a Cluster; Red braid  
  
---|---|---  
  
Force

| 

Admiral

| 

Multiple squadrons; Red/red piping  
  
Squadron

| 

Vice Admiral

| 

4 lines, Fleet Captain, Flag Captain; Red/gold  
  
Line

| 

Rear Admiral or Commodore

| 

3-4 ships; Red/silver or red/white piping  
  
Command

| 

Captain or Commander

| 

Silver/red or silver/gold piping  
  
Division

| 

Lieutenant Commander

| 

Silver/silver piping  
  
| 

Lieutenant

| 

Silver/white piping  
  
| 

Ensign

| 

Silver piping  
  
| 

Midshipman

| 

Officer Candidate  
  
Warrant

| 

Master CWO

| 

White/red  
  
| 

Senior CWO

| 

White/gold  
  
| 

Chief Warrant Officer

| 

White/silver  
  
| 

Warrant Officer

| 

White/white  
  
Petty

| 

Master CPO

| 

Four chevrons  
  
| 

Senior CPO

| 

Three chevrons  
  
| 

Chief Petty Officer

| 

Two chevrons  
  
| 

Petty Officer

| 

One chevron  
  
Other ranks

| 

Leading Crewman

| 

Four stripes  
  
| 

Senior Crewman

| 

Three stripes  
  
| 

Crewman

| 

Two stripes  
  
| 

Crewman Apprentice

| 

One stripe  
  
  * **The Faith of the Seven** is the largest religion in the Realm. It is also politically active and many of its lower ranking members speak out against the decadence and inequality of the ruling classes. Nonetheless, many minor family members are closely involved in the Faith as a way of showing their common man's touch. The personnel who comprise the upper ranks of the Faith are invested in the status quo and use Faith resources for personal gain.
  * **The Ironborn** are a race of nomads, who are born and spend most of their lives aboard ship. They have a reputation as smugglers, pirates, and thieves, a reputation that is not entirely justified. However, due to discrimination, they often have to turn to crime to survive. Their major deities are the Star God and the Void God, the priesthood of which is the Burned Men and a major ritual is being exposed to large amounts solar radiation, which usually results in substantial burns (think Cliff Curtis and Pinbacker in Sunshine) or death from cancer. Persons captured by the Ironborn are kept as thralls, but their children are born free. 
    * Each Shipmaster is the final authority aboard ships, having judicial and executive power, they head the Shipmoot which makes many of the decisions about the ship, the Shipmoot has the ability to remove a Shipmaster
    * A Fleetmaster commands a fleet, which is usually centred around a lifeship - which grows much of the food a fleet needs - along with several mining ships, transports and military vessels, is appointed by the Fleetmoot, which is composed of the Shipmasters of that Fleet, and confirmed the Iron King.
    * The Iron King - who is also the chief spiritual authority - commands the whole Ironborn race, is chosen by the Ironmoot, which is composed of all Shipmasters. The current Iron King is Balon Greyjoy.
  * **Free Companies** are large armed groups available to the highest bidder. Though the Statute of Forces places limitations on government military forces and forbids non-government forces, the Free Companies carry out military work for the highest bidder. Many such organisations are based in Tyrosh. Though they are illegal, they are too useful to the noble Houses and Cartels for the laws to be strictly enforced. In addition to their semi-legitimate work, some also work as pirates or operate glorified protection rackets on fringe worlds.

**Essos**

While this cluster has internal bridge links, it is not linked to Crown. The only policy they agree on is the resistance to the Realm. Factions of note are:

  * **The Free Systems** \- Braavos, Pentos, Lorath, Norvos, Qohor, Myr, Tyrosh, Lys and Volantis - are daughter colonies of Valyria. They are known for various trades but have very limited military power, preferring to pay off the Dothraki rather than fight them.
  * **Valyria** was a powerful nation before it was destroyed in an event known as the [Doom](https://www.deviantart.com/freemind93/art/Star-Wars-Mustafar-260045775). Only people with a specific genetic sequence, now limited to the Targaryens, can manipulate their technology. Nonetheless, Valyrian artefacts, which cannot be reproduced with modern technology (as all the tech was created on production machines kept on Valyria), remain extremely valuable.
  * **Qarth** is a hub of commerce located between the Free Systems, Ghiscar and the mystical Asshai. Every practice, save murder, is legal there. The Qwatheen are self-congratulatory, despite the loss of most of their colonies to Dothraki raiders and that its status as hub is being undermined by a direct link between Ghiscar and the Free Systems. The planet is now mainly a site for out-sourcing rather than research and development.
  * **Asshai** is a mysterious system or group of systems beyond Qarth. Trade with Asshai is very limited, taking place largely on Asshai vessels, and there are no communication links even with Qarth, so the only knowledge comes from rumours. Their technology is so advanced that it is indistinguishable from magic.
  * **Ghiscar** is the hub of the slave economy that exists throughout most of known space (although it is illegal in the Realm). Ghiscar includes New Ghis, Yunkai, Astapor and Meereen.
  * **The Dothraki** is a race of raiders and slavers. They glory in their strength and are exceptionally fierce in battle. They provide a great number of the slaves for the Ghiscari.
  * **The Faceless Men** are a group of assassins that will kill anyone, even a King, in exchange for a donation to the Many Faced God. Their headquarters is on Braavos.
  * **The Iron Bank **is an enormously wealthy financial institution, which lends money all over known space. While there are many financial institutions, the Iron Bank is so wealthy that it effectively has the power to make and unmake rulers throughout Known Space. This power is much more limited in The Realm, where it is only able to influence politics in such a drastic way during periods of considerable instability, but it nonetheless has considerable financial interest. Next to the Citadel Credit, its privately issued currency is the most commonly used in Known Space. A subgroup of the Bank’s owners who are descended from the original founders of the Bank, the Keyholders, are also the group that chooses the Starlord of Braavos.

**Wild Space**

Worlds that are not part of the Realm or Essos Cluster, the people there are reputed to be savages, who kill any outsiders and often raid border systems. In truth, Wild Space cultures run from the multi-system polity of Thenn to the subsistence scavengers of Hardhome.

**The Others**

A mythical group, who are said to descend upon worlds and kill all they touch. They are said to be led by the Night King.

**The Red Keep**

The Red Keep can be seen as a massive seven-sided tower of red glass rising a kilometre above the mouth of the Blackwater River.

The Keep's defence begin several miles outside its walls, with concentric rings of orbital defence lasers, anti-aircraft missile launchers and major military bases that protect the capital. The inner precincts of the capital, which are also the location of most city and national institutions, are a security zone, which can be easily sealed from groundside access and broken into several parts in the event of a civil disturbance or military attack. Many cartels, noble houses and mere multi-stellar corporations have their headquarters here, as well as the army of lobbyists and lawyers the gather around any government centre.

The gate of the Keep is located inside a square, which is itself sealed off from the rest of the inner city. A visitor must pass through one of two tunnels that pass under the outer wall, and have gates at either end.

Once a visitor crosses the bridge over the lake and through the Inner Gate, and crosses the two-hundred-acre gardens, the lower part of the building is revealed as a thirty-storey cross.

The South Wing is the location of the main entrance and is a ceremonial area. It contains the Great Hall - used for semi-public functions, the Presence - where the King holds audiences - and the Great Council Chamber. It also houses the offices of Lords or their delegates and committee chambers.

The East Wing houses the senior officers of the Laws - the Kingdom's justice department, while the West Wing houses the Treasury.

The central Tower - the Keep's most prominent feature, houses the Small Council Chamber, the offices of the Hand and much of the senior levels of the government bureaucracy, as well as the King's primary working office.

The North Wing is the Holdfast, the heavily fortified, albeit opulent, home of the Royal Family, which has its own private gardens.

Beneath the Keep is the Joint Military Headquarters, from where the King and his advisors can oversee military campaigns, though the Army and Navy are headquartered at the White Tower (on the north side of the city) and the Wall (located on the north bank of the Blackwater) respectively.


End file.
